Chiefs player ratings vs Brumbies | 2025 Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals

The Chiefs have bounced back from a qualifying final upset loss against the Blues with a resounding win over a classy Brumbies outfit in Hamilton.

Clayton McMillan’s men will be looking to overcome a title drought that has survived consecutive years of close calls during the coach’s reign, and they will be doing so with both positive momentum and questions to answer, with a playoff loss making an unlikely route to the finals.

There were some starring performances from the hosts, with Damian McKenzie finding his rhythm late in the piece and two tries to Emoni Narawa.

Here’s how the Chiefs rated.

1. Ollie Norris – 8.5

With Norris’s performance in this semi-final, he is this writer’s pick to snap up the All Blacks spot Ofa Tu’ungafasi has vacated with injury.

Norris went toe-to-toe with Australia’s best scrummager in Allan Alaalatoa, holding up his side of the scrum throughout his 56-minute performance.

The monster 25-year-old was active defensively early, chewing through 14 tackles with just one miss.

Norris was at fault when the Brumbies started to win momentum to start the second half, being far too slow to support his runner at the breakdown and allowing a breakdown penalty to happen right under his nose.

2. Samisoni Taukei’aho – 8

Some quick throw-ins helped the Chiefs execute in the lineouts without any interruptions from the Brumbies, a good response to last week’s troubles.

The Chiefs’ set piece was purring, and the All Black was a solid contributor to a stoic defensive effort from his side.

3. George Dyer – 8

Dyer was pinged for being overeager in the first scrum of the game, but after that seemed to win the gamesmanship battle with veteran Wallaby James Slipper in the scrums for the remainder of the first half.

The Brumbies centurion was picked up on the referee’s mic saying “he’s barely hitting me” after getting called for his second over-extending penalty. Crucially, Dyer didn’t let his hips pop up when inviting Slipper to over-extend, which helped him avoid the referee’s attention, until the second half at least.

A no-arms tackle gave the Brumbies advantage on the try-line, which was followed by Corey Toole’s try.

4. Naitoa Ah Kuoi – 7.5

A 16-tackle performance from the lock, who kept the Brumbies’ lineout honest with his contests defensively, including one steal right as the visitors looked to capitalise on some momentum early in the second half.

5. Tupou Vaa’i – 8.5

Vaa’i was unlucky to receive a yellow card early as Billy Pollard bounced into his shoulder. From that point on, the lock continued his form as the premier second-row in New Zealand.

The Chiefs’ lineout was much improved from last week’s horror show, and Vaa’i was a physical menace at the breakdown. A dozen tackles on the night.

6. Samipeni Finau – 8

A more composed showing from the blindside flanker, who needed to bounce back after playing a key role in the Chiefs’ unravelling a week ago.

Finau was strong defensively in the lineout and grew into the game. The All Black even made a clearance kick in the 61st minute that was well weighted and pinned the Brumbies in their own territory.

7. Luke Jacobson – 8.5

A game-high of 21 tackles were registered by the captain, who had some timely plays in furthering his side’s momentum and stopping the Brumbies. One such play was a turnover win in the 48th minute.

Mr ‘Concrete Shoulders’ wasn’t interested in letting any Brumbies players hit the gain line, providing bruising impact while continuing his much-improved disciplinary record after being the most penalised player in Super Rugby a season ago.

8. Wallace Sititi – 7.5

Sititi is starting to look like the player we saw dominate in his stellar rookie campaign last season, with darting runs powering through the contact and getting well over the gain line.

It wasn’t the No. 8’s loudest game, and he dropped the ball cold with his first touch, but he was contributing to the game consistently in his 61 minutes on the park, if not fading a little as the contest wore on.

9. Cortez Ratima – 8

Ratima wasn’t waiting for the game to come to him on Saturday night, getting involved in the breakdown and working hard defensively.

Some average early kicks made way for better weighted efforts as he eased into the game, and he made his presence felt in his 50 minutes on the park.

10. Damian McKenzie – 8.5

McKenzie hit his stride when it counted in this one, finding his feet in the game and putting it out of reach with some big plays.

There wasn’t a whole lot of McKenzie magic in the opening hour of the contest, and the playmaker was overly ambitious with a couple of plays that turned the ball over; a poorly executed cross-field kick and run out of his own 22 being the two most notable.

But what was consistent throughout the game was his goal-kicking, with six penalty goals and two conversions landed to keep the Chiefs’ score ticking over and keep pressure on the Brumbies.

The 10 was bumped off by Corey Toole en route to the Brumbies winger’s try, but made up for it with a remarkable try-saving tackle where he got his hand under the ball as Tom Wright slid over the try line.

A spectacular try assist and linebreak, coupled with a team-high 111 run metres highlighted his impact in the win.

11. Leroy Carter – 9

If there was one question that needed to be answered before Scott Robertson could consider Carter a fully fledged All Black contender, it was the high ball. Carter answered that question three times over in the opening five minutes of the semi-final.

The winger made winning plays on both sides of the ball, never lacking effort or courage whenever he looked to get involved. He drew four defenders and still managed to get his arms free to offload to Emoni Narawa for his fellow winger’s 46th-minute try.

With game-highs of four offloads, seven defenders beaten, and a single try assist, Carter is most certainly in the running for higher honours in 2025.

12. Quinn Tupaea – 8.5

Tupaea was superb under the high ball from the outset in the semi-final, claiming the kickoff and a handful of kicks thereafter.

The Chiefs demand loose forward-esque work from their midfielders, as was highlighted by Gideon Wrampling’s 20+ tackle effort in Tupaea’s absence last week, and Tupaea was again up to the challenge in this one.

One of his strongest defensive plays was stalling Rob Valetini close to the try line, holding the monster blindside up before help arrived.

58 metres carried from 10 runs complemented 17 tackles – the second highest tally of the game.

13. Daniel Rona – 8

Rona is a resilient defender, dedicated to making the tackle no matter how awkward it may be. Defence was his main role in this one, and he handled Wallaby opposite Len Ikitau very, very well.

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14. Emoni Narawa – 8.5

Show me the Emoni! Narawa had two great heads-up plays early, scoring the opening try of the game with an opportunistic pick-and-go from the ruck before doing the same to create a break shortly after.

Three linebreaks led the game, and after he collected an offload from Carter early in the second half, he led the contest in tries scored, too.

15. Shaun Stevenson – 7

Stevenson failed an HIA after 44 minutes, but provided some hard runs and game management off the boot without playing a starring role before then.

Reserves

16. Brodie McAlister – 8.5

A barnstorming showing off the bench from the hooker, who had the ball fall into his waiting arms with his first play of the day. Hard carries and quality breakdown work followed.

17. Jared Proffit – 8

A powerful force in the scrum once on the field.

18. Reuben O’Neill – 8

19. Jimmy Tupou – 8

20. Kaylum Boshier – 8

21. Xavier Roe – 8.5

A great showing off the bench from the halfback, who did well to draw defenders around the ruck before Narawa’s second try, and a superb kick pinned the Brumbies on their own try-line.

22. Josh Jacomb – 7

Jacomb had a smaller role in this one as he slotted into fullback after Stevenson’s exit, and contributed modestly outside of his 63rd-minute try.

23. Gideon Wrampling – 8